1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an apparatus, a method, and a system for reading and/or writing data in at least one conforming format from/to a recording medium capable of recording data in a plurality of formats, and a medium for providing a data read/write program.
2. Description of the Related Art
Recently, various audio-visual apparatuses (hereinafter referred to as xe2x80x9cAV apparatusesxe2x80x9d) for reading and/or writing data, such as digital still cameras, have been widely used. Accordingly, removable recording media using flash memory and the like have been developed for these AV apparatuses.
These recording media are capable of simultaneously recording data in a plurality of types of formats, such as moving Image data, still image data, audio data (music data), and voice data. With these recording media, a user is not required to use a plurality of recording media each corresponding to different AV apparatuses for handling data in different formats. A single recording medium can be shared by a plurality of AV apparatuses.
For example, a digital still camera only handles still image data. Generally, an AV apparatus is designed to handle data in a specific format. When a recording medium which stores data in non-conforming formats is loaded in the AV apparatus, the AV apparatus cannot recognize information including the content and the size of data in these non-conforming formats. This results from the fact that the data recording method for each format and the recording location in the recording medium are not clearly programmed into a data read/write device. Furthermore, there is a wide variety of formats for handling data.
When the user loads a recording medium storing data in a plurality of formats in the AV apparatus, the user can only know the residual recording capacity of the entire recording medium and the content of data in a conforming format. The user cannot know the content of data in non-conforming formats. Using a recording medium capable of simultaneously storing data in a plurality of formats may lead to confusion which does not occur in using a conventional recording medium which conforms only to the AV apparatus to be used.
In view of the above circumstances, it is an object of the present invention to provide an apparatus, a method, and a system for reading/writing data, and a medium for providing a data read/write program for solving the above problems with a conventional recording medium capable of simultaneously recording data in a plurality of formats and for providing a user with advantages even when data in a plurality of formats are simultaneously stored in a recording medium.
To this end, according to an aspect of the present invention, there is provided a data reading-and-writing apparatus for reading and writing data in at least one conforming format from and to a recording medium capable of recording data in a plurality of formats. The data reading-and-writing apparatus includes a reading-and-writing unit for performing reading and writing to the recording medium. A control unit controls the data reading-and-writing apparatus so as to record the data in the conforming format in a predetermined directory of the recording medium, to read the data in the conforming format from the predetermined directory of the recording medium, and to recognize information concerning data in a non-conforming format, which differs from the conforming format, by referring to a directory other than the predetermined directory of the recording medium.
According to another aspect of the present invention, there is provided a data reading-and-writing method for a data reading-and-writing apparatus for reading and writing data in at least one conforming format from and to a recording medium capable of recording data in a plurality of formats. The data reading-and-writing method includes a writing step of writing the data in the conforming format in a predetermined directory of the recording medium. In a reading step, the data in the conforming format is read from the predetermined directory of the recording medium. In a recognizing step, information concerning data in a non-conforming format, which differs from the conforming format, is recognized by referring to a directory other than the predetermined directory of the recording medium.
According to another aspect of the present invention, there is provided a data reading-and-writing system having a recording medium capable of recording data in a plurality of formats and a data reading-and-writing apparatus for reading and writing data in at least one conforming format from and to the recording medium. The data reading-and-writing system includes a reading-and-writing unit for performing reading and writing to the recording medium. A control unit controls the data reading-and-writing apparatus so as to record the data in the conforming format in a predetermined directory of the recording medium, to read the data in the conforming format from the predetermined directory of the recording medium, and to recognize information concerning data in a non-conforming format, which differs from the conforming format, by referring to a directory other than the predetermined directory of the recording medium.
According to another aspect of the present invention, there is provided a program providing medium for providing a data reading-and-writing program to be applied to a data reading-and-writing apparatus for reading and writing data in at least one conforming format from and to a recording medium capable of recording data in a plurality of formats. The data reading-and-writing program includes a writing step of writing the data in the conforming format in a predetermined directory of the recording medium. In a reading step, the data in the conforming format is read from the predetermined directory of the recording medium. In a recognizing step, information concerning data in a non-conforming format, which differs from the conforming format, is recognized by referring to a directory other than the predetermined directory of the recording medium.
Accordingly, it is possible to provide a user with advantages even when a recording medium stores data in a plurality of formats.